Cobras sink their fangs into Bobcats

By HARVEY SIMPSON

Dispatch Sports Editor



VIENNA — Even though Dooly County High’s Bobcats knew in advance they would be facing their stiffest test of the season in their 2009 finale, they repeatedly fell into the “trap” Twiggs’ Cobras set for them Friday night.

Gulping up yardage on the trap plays they kept springing on Bobcat defenders, the Cobras wound up with a whopping 416 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. As if that wasn’t enough, they threw for another 135 yards and three scores en route to a 42-22 victory. The visitors’ rushing and total yardage totals were the most the home team allowed all year.

The win was the ninth straight for the Region 2-A champs whose only loss of the regular season came by a 16-6 score against Wilkinson County in the opening game. For Dooly, the loss closed out a 5-5, 2-4 season.

Twiggs, which will begin postseason play at home against Johnson County, needed just 4:35 to draw its first scoring blood on quarterback Jeremy Stanley’s 6-yard option that capped a 60-yard, 11-play drive. Daven Bell’s 17-yard dash to the Dooly 14 was the big gainer.

Dooly, which had hoped to spring an upset of the Cobras and thus take some of the disappointment out of missing the playoffs, pulled even at 8-8 with 2:34 left in the initial period.

Taking advantage of a fumble recovered at the Twiggs 44, the Bobcats needed five plays to get into the end zone. Watkins completed a 23-yard pass to Jabioas Glenn and later found Bentavious Miller with another 23-yard pitch for the score. Glenn ran the conversion.

When Dooly gambled and failed on an ensuing onsides kickoff, the visitors had to go just 50 yards for the first of two second period touchdowns that put them ahead to stay. The payoff came on their first pass attempt of the game — a 9-yarder from Stanley to Darqueze Dennard.

Then after Dooly marched from its own 30 to the Twiggs 24 before throwing an interception at the Cobras’ 3, the visitors cranked up a 97-yard, nine-play drive. During it, they thrice converted in third down situations thanks to 12 and 14-yard runs by Ernest Butts and a 24-yard sprint by Adrian Hightower.

Despite having to kick off from the 30 to start the second half as the result of a personal foul it committed on the final play of the second stanza, Twiggs daringly tried an onsides kick that worked. It didn’t result in a score, though, as two plays later it fumbled the ball away.

As the result of that turnover, the Bobcats threatened to pull within a touchdown of their guests when they drove to the Cobras 10 before yielding possession. Twiggs responded by marching 90 yards in nine plays for a score that came on Stanley’s 25-yard pass to Hightower who right before that catch ran for 17 on a —yep, you guessed it — trap play.

With time winding down in the third period,





Twiggs stretched its lead to 35-8 when Bell’s 33-yard punt return to the 12 set up a 10-yard scoring lug by Hightower two plays later.

Dooly got that score back early in the final quarter when in sacking the Cobras quarterback Glenn caused a fumble that a teammate recovered at the Twiggs 36. A 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the visitors moved the ball to the 21. Two plays later, Watkins found Mumphrey running a crossing pattern in the end zone where he made a diving reception.

Showing once more they were equal to any challenge the home team might pose, the Cobras posted their final points on the game’s longest gain from scrimmage — an 81-yard pass play that saw Bell snare Stanley’s pass 30 yards downfield and then race the remaining 51 yards to paydirt untouched.

Despite keeping its starters on the field throughout the contest, Twiggs was unable to keep the Bobcats from becoming the only team to score three times on them all season. Dooly’s third TD was recorded on Watkins’ 12-yard pass to Mumphrey. Earlier in the drive, Watkins had found Alex McClendon for gains of 22 and 14 yards.

“Coach (Darryl) Silas told the kids afterwards that he was proud of the way they hung in there and played as it would have been so easy for them to quit when we fell behind 35-8 late in the third quarter,” Bobcat statistician J.C. Waters said.

Efforts to reach Silas for additional comment were unsuccessful.

Score by Quarters

Twiggs County 8-15-12-7 — 42

Dooly County 8-0-0-14 — 22



Scoring Summary

First Quarter

7:25 T — Jeremy Stanley 6 run (Stanley pass from Darqueze Dennard)

2:34 D — Bentavious Miller 23 pass from Arsenio Watkins (Jabioas Glenn run)

Second Quarter

11:04 T — Dennard 9 pass from Stanley (kick good)

1:22 T — Daven Bell 43 run (Stanley run)

Third Quarter

3:11 T — Adrian Hightower 25 pass from Stanley (kick failed)

1:07 T — Hightower 10 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

10:37 D — Keith Mumphrey 21 pass from Watkins (pass failed)

8:35 T — Bell 81 pass from Stanley (kick good)

4:26 D — Mumphrey 12 pass from Watkins (Alex McClendon pass from Watkins)



Team Statistics

First Downs: T 23, D 14.

Rushes-Yards: T 54-416, D 21-35.

Yards Passing: T 135, D 171.

Passes C-A-I: T 6-11-1, D 11-27-1.

Fumbles-Lost: T 4-3, D 0-0.

Punts-Average: T 0-0, D 4-34.2

Penalties-Yards: T 15-120, D 8-72,

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Twiggs — Ernest Butts 29-167, Bell 8-108, Hightower 6-81, Stanley 11-60; Dooly — Brandis Dixon 2-7, Glenn 2-1, Stanley hooks 1-3. Mumphrey 2-(-3), Watkins 14-27.

Passing: Twiggs — Dennard 1-1-0 2, Stanley 5-10-1 133; Dooly — Watkins 11-27-1 171.

Receiving: Twiggs — Dennard 3-27, Bell 1-81, Hightower 1-25, Stanley 1-2; Dooly — Miller 3-59, Mumphrey 3-39, McClendon 3-38, Glenn 1-23, Dixon 1-12.

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